Last horse-drawn narrowboat business hangs up the harness
THE last horse-drawn narrowboat on the Wey Navigation has closed. The Godalming Packetboat Company, based at Godalming, Surrey, had been owned and run by Jenny Roberts since 1984.
“It was just no longer possible to run Iona on the River Wey,” she said. “There are so many rubber inflatables and paddleboarders who don’t understand a narrowboat approaching. I would end up killing someone.”
Increased crowding on land was also a concern. “The towpath is full of speeding cyclists and runners. And I get a lot of abuse from people who don’t understand working horses and think I’m being cruel.”
Overgrowth on the towpath presented an additional challenge. “The vegetation is really high,” said Jenny. “I was in a battle with the National Trust, trying to get them to do something. The towpath was so overgrown, people try and pass and can’t. And the vegetation’s between the towpath and the canal so the horse has to pull through it. I think they’ve got a really couldn’t-care-less attitude.”
Robert Miles, general manager for the River Wey Navigations, which is owned by the National Trust, said: “We try to maintain a balance between the vegetation being low enough for Iona, while still allowing biodiversity to flourish and maintaining sufficient habitat for wildlife along the towpath.”
The Wey Navigation runs for just over 15 miles. “We used a mile and a half of towpath. You would think they’d cut it down,” Jenny added.
Down to Devon
Lockdown proved pivotal. “It gave me a chance to sit down and think about it and what it was like last year. Then the opportunity came for the boat to go down to Devon.”
Iona is now settled with the Tiverton Canal Company and was accompanied by Jenny on her journey down, ending with Jenny guiding her into the canal basin. “My last steer on the boat,” she added.
Philip Brind, who owns the Tiverton Canal Company, described the rapturous welcome Jenny and Iona received. “It was absolutely amazing. We had councillors here, people over the bridges, people with placards in their back gardens welcoming her.”
Coun Colin Slade, Mayor of Tiverton, also attended.
Jenny’s three horses will be staying with her. Buddy, a 23-year-old 15.2hh Clydesdale cross, was due for retirement this year. “He was telling me, ‘I’ll look pretty and you do the work.’ When they start doing that you know they’re ready to retire,” she said.
The other two, Alizee and Espoir, are French Comtois. “I needed a small heavy horse. Shires and Clydesdales are too big now at 17 hands and more. The Comtois is a very even-tempered, nice horse. They’ve done other things and I’ll turn them back into driving horses.”
“Devon County Council are delighted,” added Jenny. “It’s such a different attitude.”
For Philip, whose parents also had a Woolwich Star Class as part of their fleet, Iona is a very special addition, as she’s an original working boat.
“It means the world. The reason is because she is the last of a kind. The challenge in
Iona, a Woolwich Star Class butty built in 1935 by Harland and Wolff and now on the National Historic Ships Register, carried coal from pits in Warwickshire and Leicestershire, returning home with chocolate crumb for Bournville, wheat, steel, lime juice and timber.
She was called Bellepheron until 1963 when she was bought for the Shropshire Union Cruises to replace a wooden butty named Iona. A bit of a star, she not only appeared in Coronation Street in the late ’60s, but had also been used in The Bargee, the film starring Harry H Corbett.
Britain is that living history has almost died. “There’s a lot of dead history in museums, but this is living history. What scares me is that it’s dying before our eyes. I’m doing my level best to carry this on as long as I can.” He’s optimistic that her arrival might attract funding for the area. “People don’t realise how big a win this is, to land such a lady.”